The  Church 

-  I  ,  , _ _ _ 

and 

International  Peace 


A  Series  of  Papers  by  the  Trustees  of 
THE  CHURCH  PEACE  UNION 

VI 

The  Church’s  Mission  as 
to  War  and  Peace 

by 

Junius  B.  Remensnyder,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


THE  CHURCH  PEACE  UNION 
70  Fifth  Avenue 


NEW  YORK 


The  Church  and  International  Peace 

A  uniform  series  of  papers  by  the  Trustees  of  The 
Church  Peace  Union,  treating  the  problems  of  war  and 
peace  from  the  point  of  view  of  religion,  and  especially 
emphasizing  the  message  the  Church  should  have  for  the 
world  in  this  time  of  war. 


ALREADY  PUBLISHED 

1.  The  Cause  of  the  War,  by  Rev.  Charles  E.  Jefferson,  D.D. 

2.  The  Midnight  Cry,  by  Rt.  Rev.  David  H.  Greer,  D.D. 

3.  The  Scourge  of  Militarism,  by  Rev.  Peter  Ainslie,  D.D. 

4.  Europe’s  War,  America’s  Warning,  by  Rev.  Charles  S.  Mac- 

faiiand,  Ph.D. 

5.  The  Way  to  Disarm,  by  Hamilton  Holt. 

6.  The  Church’s  Mission  as  to  War  and  Peace,  by  Junius  B. 

Remensnyder,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


IN  PREPARATION 

1*  The  Breakdown  of  Civilization,  by  Rev.  William  Pierson  Mer- 
rUl,  D.D. 

2.  After  the  War— What?  by  Rev.  Francis  E.  Clark,  D.D. 

3.  Our  Grounds  of  Hope,  by  Rt.  Rev.  William  Lawrence,  D.D. 

4.  The  United  Church  and  the  Terms  of  Peace,  by  Rev.  Frederick 

Lynch,  D.D. 

5.  Adequate  Armaments,  by  Prof.  William  I.  Hull. 


The  Church’s  Mission  as  to 
War  and  Peace 

Junius  B.  Remensnyder,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Church  and  State,  with  the  Family,  are  held  by  sociological 
writers  to  be  the  pillars  of  society.  Upon  these  rest  all  our 
social  institutions.  Each  has  indeed  a  distinct  sphere.  But 
their  co-relations  and  interdependences  are  of  the  closest 
character.  They  mutually  support  one  another.  And  when 
either  one  fails  in  its  duty,  violates  its  obligation  to  the  other, 
then  society  is  injured,  deteriorates,  and  civilization  comes  to 
a  standstill,  or  relapses  toward  barbarism. 

It  results  therefore  that  Church  and  State,  if  not  formally 
connected,  as  in  Europe,  still  have  a  vital  organic  relation.  The 
sphere  of  the  Church  is  spiritual.  Yet,  in  the  discharge  of  this 
spiritual  fashioning  of  the  motives,  aims  and  work  of  the  souls 
entrusted  to  her  care,  it  is  the  distinct  duty  of  the  Church  to 
make  good  citizens,  to  inculcate  a  loyal  support  of  the  State. 
The  Church  has  a  responsibility  to  see  to  it  that  there  be  a 
Christian  State.  While  she  must  avoid  politics  as  such,  yet 
her  voice  should  be  heard  upon  the  moral  aspect  of  public 
questions.  And  her  testimony  should  ring  out  sharp  and  clear 
against  policies  which  injure  the  public  welfare,  and  trample 
upon  the  essential  principles  and  maxims  of  morality  and 
religion. 

It  is  on  these  grounds  that  the  Church  has  a  special 
mission  with  respect  to  zvar.  War  is  a  resort  to  physical 
force  to  adjust  the  differences  between  nations.  This  method, 
as  between  individuals,  the  Church  by  its  infusion  of  Christian 
ethics,  has  banished,  as  belonging  to  the  sphere  of  barbarism. 
And  none  the  less  does  the  Church  place  war  (as  between 
nations)  in  the  same  category. 

Now,  at  the  present  juncture,  we  find  ourselves  confronted 
by  two  ideals,  in  direct  opposition.  One  is  that  of  what  we 


3 


may  call  the  the  world-empire  spirit.  The  several  races  of 
men,  separated  partially  by  blood,  by  language,  historical 
traditions  and  national  boundaries,  look  upon  each  other  as 
rivals,  and  seek  the  leadership,  to  one  another’s  hurt,  with 
a  great  ambition  to  wield  the  sceptre  over  the  world.  This 
aspiration  and  effort  are  held  to  develop  the  virile  virtues  of 
the  race,  and  to  call  forth  those  energies  which  form  the 
noblest  type  of  manhood. 

This  ideal  is  set  forth  in  the  famous  book  of  Treitschke, 
for  many  years  the  most  popular  of  professors  in  Germany, 
instilling  his  theories  into  the  youth  of  that  country.  And  no 
less  distinctly  has  it  been  urged  in  England  by  the  distinguished 
Professor  Cramb.  To  get  a  vivid  conception  of  it  I  quote 
from  the  brilliant  book  of  the  latter: 

“I  have  described  the  attitude  of  the  youth  of  Germany,  soldiers, 
students,  professors,  politicians,  writers  of  books.  Their  position  is 
clear.  ‘Are  we  to  acquiesce,’  they  ask,  ‘in  England’s  possession  of 
one-fifth  of  the  globe,  with  no  title  deeds,  no  claim  except  priority 
in  robbery?  Our  greatest  teachers  so  describe  it.’  With  what  thoughts 
are  they  to  read  the  history  and  the  literature  of  their  country?  If, 
from  love  of  peace  or  dread  of  war,  Germany  submits,  it  would 
seem  as  if  her  great  soldiers  had  fought  in  vain,  as  if  the  long  roll 
of  her  battles  had  passed  like  an  empty  sound,  as  if  the  Great  Elector 
and  Frederick,  Stein  and  Scharnhorst  and  Bismarck  had  schemed 
in  vain,  as  if  her  thinkers  had  thought  their  thoughts  and  her  poets 
had  dreamed  their  dreams  not  less  in  vain.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
Germany  has  not  declined  from  her  ancient  valor  the  issue  is  certain, 
and  a  speedy  issue. 

“It  is  war. 

“And  if  the  dire  event  of  a  war  with  Germany — if  it  is  a  dire 
event — should  ever  occur,  there  shall  be  seen  upon  this  earth  of  ours 
a  conflict  which,  beyond  all  others,  will  recall  that  description 
of  the  great  Greek  wars: 

“  ‘Heroes  in  battle  with  heroes, 

And  above  them  the  wrathful  gods.’ 

And  one  can  imagine  the  ancient,  mighty  deity  of  all  the  Teutonic 
kindred,  throned  above  the  clouds,  looking  serenely  down  upon  that 
conflict,  upon  his  favorite  children,  the  English  and  the  Germans, 
locked  in  a  death  struggle,  smiling  upon  the  heroism  of  that  struggle, 
the  heroism  of  the  childern  of  Odin  the  War  God !’’ 

When  such  thoughts,  so  in  harmony  with  that  spirit  of 
ambition,  rivalry,  and  yearning  for  glory,  inspiring  the  natural 
man — a  reminiscence  of  the  brute  instinct — are  inculcated  in 


4 


such  stirring  phrases,  shall  we  wonder  that  the  slightest  spark 
leads  to  a  world-wide  conflagration ! 

Opposed  to  this  ideal,  so  largely  ruling  the  State  in  all 
history,  and  unexpectedly  coming  to  the  front  at  present,  as 
dominant  in  Europe,  is  the  Christian  ideal — that  of  the  Church. 
The  Church  takes  for  its  standard  of  moral  authority  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  Here  it  finds  the 
holy  and  perfect  will  of  God,  as  expressed  in  precepts,  statutes 
and  ordinances.  And  here  it  finds  that  God  “hath  made  of 
one  blood  all  nations  of  men  to  dwell  upon  the  earth,”  that 
He  is  their  “Father,”  and  that  as  His  children,  they  are  to 
be  brothers;  that  the  dominant  law  of  their  mutual  conduct 
is  to  be  that  of  love ;  that  selfishness  is  the  bane  of  social 
life,  and  that  it  is  to  be  resisted  and  overcome.  And  the  great 
,  Teacher  and  Master,  when  He  saw  His  disciples  in  a  con¬ 
tention  as  to  which  should  be  the  greatest  in  His  kingdom,  set 
them  an  example  of  humility  by  washing  their  feet,  and  then 
gave  them  this  precept :  “Let  him  that  is  chief  among  you, 
be  as  he  that  doth  serve.”  So,  in  the  Old  Testament  it  is 
said  of  the  Almighty  One,  as  He  looks  down  upon  strife  and 
confusion  in  the  world :  “He  maketh  tvars  to  cease  unto  the 
end  of  the  earth” ;  and,  when  the  new  Christian  era  is 
inaugurated,  it  is  with  the  angelic  song,  “On  earth,  PEACE, 
good  will  to  men.” 

Now  it  is  clear  as  the  light  of  the  sun  that  there  can  be 
no  agreement  between  these  two  ideals.  They  are  as  far 
apart,  and  as  direct  opposites,  as  the  poles.  One  means 
Selfishness,  the  other  Charity.  One  means  Love,  the  other 
Hate.  One  means  Peace,  the  other  War.  War  is  antagonistic 
to  Christianity  for  many  reasons,  but  chiefly  on  account  of 
the  ugly  passions  it  excites,  and  the  untold  misery  it  inflicts, 
and  that  upon  those  almost  wholly  if  not  altogether  innocent 
of  bringing  it  about. 

Imagination  can  easily  enough  conceive  of  the  terrors 
of  the  field  of  battle.  But  having  enlisted  at  his  country’s 
call,  while  a  young  student  at  college — to  which  he  afterward 
returned — the  writer  would,  to  show  how  immeasurably 


5 


reality  transcend?  imagination,  give  here  a  description  of  his 
personal  experience  and  observation  in  one  of  the  bloodiest 
fields  of  our  civil  war,  viz.  :  Fredericksburg.  It  depicts  a 
phase  not  often  described,  i.  e.,  the  field  during  the  lull  in  a 
yet  undecided  battle. 

Crossing  the  Rappahannock  River,  which  lay  between 
the  town  and  the  fortified  Confederate  lines,  on  a  narrow, 
frail  pontoon,  it  was  a  harrowing  sight  to  see  one’s  comrades 
torn  from  his  side  by  the  bursting  shells  from  the  enemy’s 
heavy  guns.  Having  ascended  the  river  bank,  we  were  on 
a  level  plain  immediately  in  front  of  the  rifle  pits  and  earth¬ 
works,  from  which  poured  so  deadly  a  hail  of  bullets  that 
we  could  only  escape  death  by  falling  flat  on  our  faces,  and 
as  we  lay  there  for  hours,  the  air  screamed  with  the  hiss  of 
millions  of  bullets  so  close  to  our  heads,  that  to  raise  them  a 
few  inches  meant  certain  death.  At  last  the  sun,  which  seemed 
to  hang  for  an  eternity  a  lurid  red  ball  on  the  edge  of  the 
horizon,  sank,  and  under  cover  of  darkness  we  retired  from 
the  field.  Utterly  exhausted  with  marching,  with  intense 
excitement  and  hunger,  we  lay  down  to  sleep. 

And  then  it  was  that  our  senses  awakened  to  such  a 
sound  as  we  never  before  had  dreamed  of,  and  as  altogether 
beggared  description.  This  came  from  the  cries  and  shrieks 
of  the  wounded  and  dying  on  the  field  we  had  just  left.  It 
seemed  to  arise  from  a  hundred  thousand  throats  from  one 
end  of  the  field  to  the  other.  And  infinitely  awful  it  was! 
It  was  a  concourse  of  all  mianner  of  horrible  cries.  Screams 
of  agony  that  rent  the  very  skies ;  appeals  to  God  for  pity 
and  help;  occasional  shrieks,  as  if  from  pent-up,  unbearable 
pain,  rising  louder  than  all  the  rest ;  and  deep,  bawling  moans 
from-  those  evidently  made  insane  by  suffering.  Yet,  dis¬ 
cordant  as  were  these  wails  and  shrieks,  their  number  and 
incessant  continuity  made  them  seem  to  blend  into  one  great 
symphony  of  agonized  sound — one  mighty  Niagara  of  woe 
and  despair! 

It  was  absolutely  appalling.  One  might  conjure  up  all 
the  cruelities  he  had  ever  heard  practiced  by  barbarous  races. 


6 


or  all  that  he  had  ever  heard  of  the  horrors  of  a  physical  hell, 
but  this  pandemonium  of  tortured  cries  surpassed  them  as 
reality  exceeds  imagination,  as  fact  pales  fiction. 

And  such  are  the  pitiless  rules  of  the  undecided  battle, 
that  all  these  calls  for  help  must  be  utterly  disregarded. 
During  the  long  winter  night  this  wretched  multitude  must 
lie  on  the  field  with  no  tender  hand  to  ease  the  aching  head, 
no  medical  skill  to  staunch  the  life-blood’s  flow,  no  anaesthetic 
to  relieve  the  intolerable  pain,  not  even  a  drop  of  water  to 
moisten  the  parched  tongue  or  glazed  throat. 

As  the  writer  lay  there  that  weary,  awful  night,  sleep 
banished  from  his  eyes,  with  the  consciousness  that  on  the 
morrow  the  same  fate  might  be  his,  these  sounds  and  that 
scene  were  burned  into  the  core  of  his  memory  like  a  hideous 
nightmare  whose  spectre  will  not  down  life-long. 

And  then  and  there  he  learned  a  lesson  as  to  war.  He 
was  a  Christian,  and  those  deliberately  inflicting  upon  one 
another  these  awful  mutilations  were  men  of  a  civilized  land, 
fellow  Americans,  confessors  of  a  religion  whose  basal  tenet 
was  brotherhood,  disciples  of  a  Master  Whose  maxim  to  His 
followers  was ;  “Forgive  your  enemies,”  “Love  one  another,” 
“Peace  I  leave  with  you.” 

And  he  received  a  lasting  conviction  that  war  between 
Christian  peoples  was  utterly  indefensible.  And  that,  could 
statesmen  and  clergymen  witness  such  a  holocaust  of  horror, 
they  would  hesitate  before  making  flaming  call  to  arms,  and 
would  find  terms  of  amicable  and  honorable  adjustment. 

But  there  are  other  horrors  of  war  beside  the  actual 
sufferings  of  the  field.  These  were  vividly  depicted  by  the 
trenchant  pen  of  good  old  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  thus :  “War 
has  means  of  destruction  more  formidable  than  the  cannon 
and  sword.  Of  the  thousands,  tens  and  hundreds  of  thousands 
tbat  perish,  very  small  part  ever  feel  the  stroke  of  the  enemy, 
the  rest  languish  in  tents  and  ships,  amidst  damps  and  putre¬ 
faction  ;  pale,  torpid,  spiritless  and  helpless — gasping  and 
groaning,  unpitied  among  men,  made  obdurate  by  long  con¬ 
tinuance  of  hopeless  misery;  and  are  at  last  whelmed  in  pits. 


7 


or  heaved  into  the  ocean,  without  notice  and  without 
remembrance.  By  incommodious  encampments  and  unwhole¬ 
some  stations,  where  courage  is  useless  and  enterprise 
impracticable,  fleets  are  silently  dispeopled,  and  armies 
sluggishly  melted  away.” 

And  then  there  is  the  Aftermath  of  War,  widows  and 
orphans  mourning  for  the  non-retuming  husband  and  father, 
homes  once  bright  and  happy,  now  saddened  and  desolate, 
and  burdened  with  crushing  and  grinding  poverty.  Then, 
the  demoralization  of  young  men,  and  the  brutalizing 
influences  in  a  bloody  strife,  which  almost  makes  necessary 
all  sorts  of  heartlessness  and  cruelty.  What  a  derangement, 
too,  and  setback  of  religious  work,  missionary  enterprise, 
and  all  forms  of  spiritual  activity!  Then  Schiller’s  line  sums 
up  the  result  as  to  the  deterioration  of  the  quality  of  the  male 
sex:  “Always  war  devours  the  best.”  The  very  flower  of 
the  youth  and  those  of  middle-age  go  into  the  war  at  the 
beginning,  and  of  these  a  large  part  die  before  the  end. 
“This,”  as  says  Chancellor  Jordan  of  Stanford  University,  in 
his  late  book  on  the  Effects  of  War,  “produces  a  change  in 
the  balance  of  society  by  reducing  the  percentage  of  the  better 
types  without  a  corresponding  reduction  of  the  less  desirable 
types;  a  condition  which  is  projected  into  the  next  generation 
because  the  inferiors  live  to  have  progeny  and  the  others 
do  not.”  After  each  war  comes  the  paucity  of  genius,  the 
failure  of  personal  initiative,  a  great  decadence  in  literature. 
War  also  costs  millions  for  each  day  that  it  is  carried  on. 
This  the  present  peoples  are  quite  unable  to  pay.  And  so 
the  burden  is  placed  upon  coming  generations,  who  are  so 
bowed  down  under  oppressive  taxes  that  they  are  practically 
slaves  for  centuries.  The  war  debts  of  Europe  now  amount 
to  the  inconceivable  amount  of  $30,000,000,000,  and  as  long 
as  war  continues,  go  on  increasing  at  the  rate  of  $300,000,000 
a  month. 

When  war  is  thus  considered  in  its  manifold  aspects  of 
evil,  misery,  bitter  passions  and  tragedies,  can  there  be  doubt 
as  to  where  the  Church,  bearing  the  Gospel,  and  preaching 


8 


the  spirit  and  imitation  of  her  Lord,  should  stand  Txnth  regard 
to  it?  The  only  question,  then,  is  not  as  to  her  uncompro¬ 
mising  attitude,  but  as  to  how  she  shall  most  efifectually 
oppose,  limit  the  destructive  sphere,  and  cause  the  final  over¬ 
throw  of,  this  monster  of  barbarism. 

First,  by  always  and  everywhere  hearing  witness  against 
it.  The  Church  is  not  true  to  her  divine  mission  and  message 
when  she  justifies  the  war  conducted  by  her  own  country, 
while  only  condemning  that  of  others.  In  the  great  European 
war  we  have  the  spectacle  of  each  church  declaring  that  her 
own  nation  is  perfectly  right  in  resorting  to  the  barbaric 
method  of  war.  The  respective  churches  of  England  and 
Germany,  for  example,  are  supporting  and  issuing  prayers 
for  the  bloody  work  of  their  armies,  as  if  they  could  expect 
the  blessing  of  the  “very  God  of  Peace”  to  rest  upon  them. 
The  position  of  the  Church  should  be,  “Your  cause  may  be 
absolutely  just,  but  Christianity  demands  that  you  submit  it 
to  the  arbitrament  of  the  International  Court  of  the  Hague, 
and  not  seek  to  settle  it  by  the  brutal  and  unjust  tribunal  of 
force.”  If  the  churches  of  all  the  great  warring  nations 
united  and  stood  firmly  upon  this  basis,  we  feel  sure  that, 
seconded  by  the  peoples  themselves,  who  are  bearing  the 
awful  results  in  personal  and  financial  losses,  the  various 
rulers  would  shortly  be  compelled  to  establish  peace. 

The  Church,  further,  will  contribute  most  effectively  to 
peace  when  she  exposes  the  real  cause  of  war,  when  she 
diagnoses  truly  the  root  of  the  disease.  One  of  the  most 
encouraging  signs  of  the  present,  as  indicating  an  advance  in 
the  influence  of  Christianity,  is  the  appeal  of  the  warring 
nations  to  Christendom  for  a  favorable  verdict.  Each  feels 
that  it  is  a  terrible  crime  in  the  esteem  of  civilization  for  the 
one  who  bears  the  responsibility  of  inciting  the  war.  But  the 
Church  would  make  a  fatal  mistake  if  she  adjudged  one  of 
the  parties  the  prime  aggressor,  and  ascribed  all  the  blame  to 
that  individual  nation  alone.  We  rather  agree  with  the 
explanation  given  by  a  distinguished  statesman;  “There  is 
no  ethical  justification  of  this  war  from  any  standpoint.  There 


9 


is  only  an  explanation  of  the  war  from  an  economic  stand¬ 
point.  Let  us  thrust  aside  in  these  dark  moments  of  peril 
and  horror  all  subterfuge.”  That  is,  the  true  explanation  of 
this  war  is  to  be  traced  to  misgovernment,  internal  dissatis¬ 
faction,  national  rivalry,  commercial  jealousy,  and  the  tempt¬ 
ing  vision  of  world-empire.  That  this  general,  selfish,  worldly, 
non-Christian  spirit,  common,  more  or  less,  to  all  the  powers, 
and  not  the  specific  aggressive  act  of  one,  is  the  real  cause  of 
this  horrid  strife,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  all  these  powers 
have  been  looking  for  it,  have  held  it  to  be  inevitable,  have  felt 
that  the  fire  was  rankling  underneath  the  crust  of  European 
civilization,  and  that  it  was  an  altogether  secondary  matter, 
as  to  what  would  be  the  incidental  occasion. 

It  is  then  this  world-spirit,  this  carnal  human  heart,  this 
generic  selfishness  and  unbrotherly  race  antagonism,  which 
is  the  cause  of  prejudice,  bitterness  and  strife,  culminating  in 
war,  at  which  the  Church  must  direct  her  opposition.  Only 
by  exorcising  it,  and  banishing  it  from  the  world’s  theatre, 
can  there  be  peace. 

And  this  can  be  done  alone  by  the  Church  preaching  the 
Gospel.  Nothing  more  than  the  present  unprecedented  strife, 
with  horrors  more  appalling  than  ever  witnessed  before,  shows 
the  mistake  of  diplomats,  social  philosophers,  mere  ethicists 
and  rationalistic  ministers,  who  think  that  this  age  has 
progressed  beyond  the  teachings  of  Christianity.  The  historic 
Church  has  ever  held  with  Paul  that  the  human  heart  is 
“deceitful  and  desperately  wicked,”  and  that  it  needs  to  be 
radically  changed  into  another  personality  before  it  can  be 
truly  Christian.  The  special  mission  of  the  Church  is  to  effect 
this  spiritual  regeneration.  Men  speak  of  the  present  war  as 
an  evidence  of  the  failure  of  Christianity.  Quite  the  contrary, 
it  only  demonstrates  that  men  are  not  Christianized  enough. 
What  they  want  is  more  of  Christianity.  Only  when  they  put 
the  Gospel  to  practice  in  their  hearts  and  lives  by  becoming 
“new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus,”  will  they  “learn  war  no 
more.” 


lO 


As  writes  a  recent  Biblical  critic :  “I  was  at  first 
staggered  by  the  recent  events  in  Europe,  but  I  quickly 
recovered  myself  as  I  thought  that  this  barbaric  display  has 
been  the  result  of  a  partially  accepted  Christianity.  Then  I 
turned  to  these  volumes  by  Dr.  MacLaren,  and  was  reminded 
most  impressively  that,  if  we  are  to  get  rid  forever  of  bloody 
rnilitarism  in  Europe  and  merciless  commercialism  in  America, 
it  can  only  be  by  a  careful,  thought-out  presentation  of  the 
Christian  message  which  appeals  at  once  to  the  conscience, 
the  intellect,  the  emotions,  and  the  will.” 

Finally,  the  Church,  by  not  allowing  her  sacred  mission 
to  be  embroiled  with  political  and  partisan  views,  can  exercise 
a  potent  and  most  beneficent  influence  for  a  righteous  adjust¬ 
ment  zvhen  there  comes  the  framing  of  peace.  In  this  crisis, 
when  each  party  is  seeking  the  advantage,  and  when  the  con¬ 
quering  power  is  disposed  to  act  in  the  spirit  of  selfish 
injustice,  the  danger  is  greatest.  And  as  only  that  peace  can 
be  lasting  which  is  equitable  to  all,  then  it  is  that  the  churches 
can  be  the  agents  of  greatest  usefulness. 

Mr.  Roosevelt  is  engaged  in  writing  a  series  of  articles 
in  which  he  reproaches  the  advocates  of  peace  in  these  words : 
“The  weaklings  who  raise  their  shrill  piping  for  a  peace  that 
shall  consecrate  successful  wrong  occupy  a  position  quite  as 
immoral  as,  and  infinitely  more  contemptible  than  the  position 
of  the  wrongdoers  themselves.”  We  believe  that  truer  and 
broader-minded  is  the  attitude  of  Mr.  Carnegie,  when  in  his 
late  Independent  article  he  said  that  the  foundation  for  a 
world-peace  court  had  been  laid  when,  on  September  5th, 
Great  Britain,  France  and  Russia  had  mutually  agreed  not  to 
make  peace  separately  and  added: 

“After  the  present  belligerents  agree  upon  peaceful  settle¬ 
ment,  Germany  and  Austria  should  be  the  first  invited  by  the 
Allies  to  join  in  forming  a  league  of  peace.” 

It  is  just  the  present  agitators  for  peace,  and  the  churches 
who  are  preaching  the  Christian  spirit  of  forbearance  and 
brotherly  love,  who,  when  the  terms  of  final  adjustment  are 
being  discussed,  will  stand  to  the  last  for,  and  will  be 


the  most  potent  factors  of,  a  peace  which  will  not  be  arbitrary, 
but  just,  not  the  voice  of  force,  but  that  of  righteousness,  and 
therefore  a  durable  one. 

Such  should  be  the  attitude  of  the  Christian  Church 
toward,  the  barbaric  demon  of  war,  and  such  the  agencies 
which  she  employes  to  circumvent  his  overthrow.  It  is  evident 
that  all  other  agencies,  political,  ethical,  social,  cultural  and 
commercial,  have  failed  and  ever  will  fail.  War,  in  the  past, 
has  always  driven  men  to  the  Church,  and  more  than  ever 
can  the  Church  now,  by  fidelity  to  the  Gospel,  by  energetically 
pressing  her  holy  mission,  win  the  confidence  of  mankind,  and 
gather  all  nations  under  the  banner  of  a  world-wide  brother¬ 
hood  of  peace,  when  we  may  say  with  Whittier : 

“Lend,  once  again,  that  holy  song  a  tongue 
Which  the  glad  angels  of  the  Advent  sung, 

Their  cradle-anthem  for  the  Saviour’s  birth, 

‘Glory  to  God,  and  Peace  unto  the  Earth.’ 

Through  the  mad  discord  send  that  calming  word 
Which  wind  and  wave  on  wild  Gennesareth  heard. 

Lift  in  Christ’s  name  His  CROSS  against  the  SWORD.’’ 


The  Church  Peace  Union 

{Founded  by  Andrew  Carnegie^ 

TRUSTEES 

Rev.  Peter  Ainslie,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Rev.  Arthur  Judson  Brown,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  New  York. 

Rev.  Francis  E.  Clark,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Boston,  Mass. 
President  W.  H.  P.  Faunce,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Providence,  R.  I. 
His  Eminence,  James  Cardinal  Gibbons,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Rt.  Rev.  David  H.  Greer,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  New  York. 

Rev.  Frank  O.  Hall,  D.D.,  New  York 
Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix,  D.D.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Rabbi  Emil  G.  Hirsch,  LL.D.,  Chicago,  Ill. 

Hamilton  Holt,  New  York. 

Professor  William  I.  Hull,  Ph.D.,  Swarthmore,  Pa. 

Rev.  Charles  E.  Jefferson,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  New  York. 

Rev.  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones,  LL.D.,  Chicago,  Ill. 

Rt.  Rev.  William  Lawrence,  D.D.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Rev.  Frederick  Lynch,  D.D.,  New  York. 

Rev.  Charles  S.  Macfarland,  Ph.D.,  New  York 
Marcus  M.  Marks,  New  York 

Dean  Shaller  Mathews,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Chicago,  Ill. 

Edwin  D.  Mead,  M.A.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Rev.  William  Pierson  Merrill,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  New  York. 
John  R.  Mott,  LL.D.,  New  York. 

George  A.  Plimpton,  LL.D.,  New  York. 

Rev.  Julius  B.  Remensnyder,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  New  York. 
Judge  Henry  Wade  Rogers,  LL.D.,  New  York. 

Robert  E.  Speer,  D.D.,  New  York. 

Francis  Lynde  Stetson,  New  York. 

James  J.  Walsh,  M.D.,  New  York. 

Bishop  Luther  B.  Wilson,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  New  York. 


